The Minimum Wage Debate: A 2025 Perspective

The Department of Labor Relations and Wages conducts labor and wage surveys in enterprises to gather data for adjusting regional minimum wages in 2025. This initiative ensures that wage adjustments are informed by accurate and up-to-date insights, reflecting the realities of businesses and their employees.

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Low wages have made life difficult for Le Thi Kim Anh and her husband, who work at the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in Ho Chi Minh City. Kim Anh has been working at the company for almost five years, but her monthly income is only around VND 6 million.

Her husband, a freelance worker, has unstable income. Therefore, Kim Anh has to take care of most of the family expenses. Rent, electricity, and water alone cost VND 3 million, leaving little for food and transportation for the couple. Despite her best efforts to save, there are months when she has to borrow money.

“I’ve been working for so many years, but I haven’t been able to save up for anything of value. We can’t even afford to have a second child,” she said. “I hope the government will continue to adjust the regional minimum wage to ease the burden on workers.”

Many workers hope for an increase in the regional minimum wage to alleviate their difficulties.

Nguyen Huy Hung, Director of the Department of Labor Relations and Wage (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs), said that the department is finalizing two circulars and continuing to implement two decrees on labor management, wages, salaries, and bonuses for state-owned enterprises and regulations on worker representation and collective bargaining.

Regarding the adjustment of the regional minimum wage, Mr. Hung said that the department has provided guidance and disseminated information to enterprises about the adjustment, which took effect on July 1, 2024.

Monitoring shows that enterprises have generally not encountered difficulties or obstacles in implementing the new wage, ensuring workers’ income.

The department also conducted a labor and wage survey in enterprises to gather data for the 2025 regional minimum wage adjustment.

Overall, labor relations in enterprises remain stable. Dialogue and collective bargaining activities continue to be promoted, limiting strikes and quickly resolving conflicts.

Workers’ lives have improved, with the average income in the first six months of 2024 reaching VND 7.5 million per month, an increase of 7.4% compared to the same period in 2023.

Earlier, to consider adjusting the regional minimum wage for 2025, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs issued a decision to survey labor and wage conditions in enterprises in 2024. The survey was conducted in 18 provinces and cities representing the eight economic regions of the country, with a large number of enterprises and a developed labor market.

A total of 3,400 enterprises and 6,800 workers were surveyed.

The two localities with the highest number of surveyed enterprises were Hanoi with 700 enterprises (1,400 workers) and Ho Chi Minh City with 800 enterprises (1,600 workers). The remaining provinces and cities had between 100 and 200 surveyed enterprises each.

Average income in the first six months of 2024 increased by 7.4% compared to the same period in 2023.

The collection of information on production and business, labor, and wages in enterprises aims to provide a basis for adjusting the minimum wage in 2025, in line with the activities of the National Wage Council.

It also serves the management and periodic announcement of average wage levels in the labor market for reference by enterprises and workers in wage negotiations.

According to Decree 74/2024/ND-CP, the regional minimum wage levels are as follows:

Region I: Increased by VND 280,000 to VND 4,960,000 per month (from VND 4,680,000).

Region II: Increased by VND 250,000 to VND 4,410,000 per month (from VND 4,160,000).

Region III: Increased by VND 220,000 to VND 3,860,000 per month (from VND 3,640,000).

Region IV: Increased by VND 200,000 to VND 3,450,000 per month (from VND 3,250,000).

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